Ryan Kwanten found fame as a sex-mad heartbreaker in TV's True Blood, but the Aussie shows a softer side in Red Hill. It marks a contrast in what is otherwise a red-blooded western-style thriller from writer-director Patrick Hughes (making his big-screen debut), shooting in outback Australia but retreading the symbolical landscape mapped out by Sergio Leone in the '60s. He veers a little too close to parody at times, but he's saved by no-nonsense acting, and Kwanten stands firm as the moral backbone of the story; a young cop transferred from the city to a dustbowl town.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Kwanten ditches the bleached surfer look to play PC Shane Cooper, looking more like a choirboy except for the uniform. It's his first day at Red Hill and he's misplaced his gun in the move. Still, that doesn't seem to matter much because this appears to be the sort of Hicksville town where folks leave their doors unlocked and 'mugging' is something to do for a rosette at the local fair. Shane wants this quiet life for the benefit of his pregnant wife (the equally angel-faced Claire van der Boom) who has a history of miscarriage. Together, they're the picture of youthful idealism.

First to rain on Shane's parade is the sheriff Old Bill, played with scorching disdain by Steve Bisley (Mad Max). He's not mightily impressed when the kid reports for duty without his weapon, but of course he doesn't take kindly to strangers anyway, especially city boys, and he makes that clear from the off. His mood worsens when news breaks that Jimmy Conway, a convicted murderer (Tom E. Lewis) has escaped prison and - for reasons not yet apparent - is headed for Red Hill. Evidently, he has a score to settle and he doesn't waste time picking off members of the police department like so many sitting ducks. What's interesting is that he leaves Shane alive.

This first encounter with Jimmy bristles with tension. The two are squared against each other in an old-fashioned stand-off, only for Shane to make the remarkable - and frankly, implausible - decision to lay down his (borrowed) gun. Previously, Shane tells Bill that he is not a man of violence, but he's made to look extraordinarily naÃ¯ve in this scene, especially because Hughes goes out of his way to present Jimmy as a monster - half his face ravaged by third-degree burns. Shane may be the intuitive type, but having already gone out of his way for his wife and unborn child, it just doesn't wash. And, of course, Shane's reluctance to kill means many others die.